By Gordon Anderson | gordon@rantnc.com
Lee County sheriff’s deputies on Thursday detained the brother of a man who has been wanted on a murder warrant for nearly 30 years, believing for a time that he was the fugitive they’d been seeking since 1995.
The situation unfolded after deputies received word that Willard Eugene Smith was in town for the funeral of his brother at Liberty Chapel Church in Chatham County. Smith has been wanted on an open warrant for first degree murder since the June 1995 shooting death of Rodney Cotten on East Forest Oaks Road off U.S. 1 near the Lee-Chatham County line.
According to a Facebook post by Lee County Sheriff Brian Estes, deputies attempted to locate Smith in the church’s parking area after the service, and actually took a person into custody.
“For almost 30 years previous tips have indicated that Willard Smith has used several aliases, including family member’s names. One of which, is the name Willard Partridge, which was listed in the obituary as a surviving brother. Tips also say that he has come back to the area on previous occasions to visit family,” the post read. “Deputies detained a male subject that matched the description of the individual that has been on the run for the murder warrant for almost 30 years.”
The Facebook post indicated that members of the crowd surrounded deputies’ vehicles, rocked them, and attempted to block them in with other vehicles. The situation was eventually de-escalated and deputies left with the person they’d taken into custody. But investigation into the person they’d taken into custody revealed he was actually another brother of Willard Eugene Smith – close in age and physical description, but not the right person. Deputies released him after determining that he wasn’t Willard Smith.
“Our Office is still encouraging anyone to report information regarding the Murder of Rodney Cotton and the suspect’s location. With the persistence of our citizens and the dedication of our Deputies, we intend to bring closure to the victim’s family and we are committed to the pursuit of justice,” the post concluded.
The Rant profiled the murder of Rodney Cotten and the outstanding warrant for Smith in May 2019. Cotten’s brother Robert, heavily quoted in that story, passed away in 2020.
Umm get the facts straight before you write a story. That’s journalism 101. The original person they detained was 4 yrs old at the time of the crime. Another brother sacrificed himself to save the younger brother. They detained 2 brothers. Both of whom were NOT the target. And nothing got rocked. Business was stood on because we all knew they had the wrong person. Thanks. Have a blessed day
Let’s rewrite the story :
Lee County Sherriff’s office are some dickheads and sent the whitest of the white officers they had plus one wanna be white officer and illegally and wrongfully detained someone after being told numerous times by 100s of people they definitely had the wrong person and he had ID on him to verify. Now they wanna save face and manipulate a story to paint a grieving black family who just seconds prior literally lowered a perfectly healthy 33 yr old black man into the ground as the aggressors. The usual white tears story. Yal had assault rifles, tear gas, and vehicles used as weapons. We had nothing. Write that in the story if you gone tell it!
“literally lowered a perfectly healthy 33 yr old black man into the ground”
Please explain.
Exactly what she said. Simple. Reading is fundamental.
Must be a Joe Biden supporter
Idiots
There comfort in knowing the murdering P.O.S. and everyone who’s helped him, will eventually pay. If not in this lifetime, surely the next.
I’m sure his sorry POs family knows where he is and the sorry ass POs slum of a family are just as guilty.
You don’t even know the full story of what happened in the murder case. There were two shooters actually, so how can you blame only one? No one is hiding the suspect. So please stop speaking on situations you have no clue about!